Nestable plastic hat with head size adjustment

ABSTRACT

A plastic simulation of a skimmer hat is provided with a generally flat brim, a riser, and a crown generally parallel to the brim. The riser includes a lower portion of generally vertical inside and outside form, and an inwardly offset upper rim portion of generally vertical form. The inside surface of the lower riser portion is of proper dimensions to fit the outside surface of the upper riser portion of an identical hat.

United States Patent Peham Oct. 16, 1973 [5 NESTABLE PLASTIC HAT WITH HEAD 3,305,874 2/1967 Peham 2/183 SIZE ADJUSTMENT 2,870,445 1/1959 Fisher 2/3 R [75] Inventor: Engelbert J. Peham, St. Paul, Minn. v FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 924 111899 G tB' ..2 .3 Asslgneel Peham P135 IRQmKUEFLMEL 463,655 3/1914 1 75 22 Filed: Feb. 18, 1971 Primary Examiner-George H. Krizmanich [21] Appl' 116,524 AttorneyRobert M. Dunning 52] us. c1. 2/183, 2/175 ABSTRACT A4211 A421) A plastic simulation of a skimmer hat is provided with [58] Field of Search 2/175, 177, 178, a generally flat brim, a riser, and a crown generally 3 220/97 206/8 parallel to the brim. The riser includes a lower portion of generally vertical inside and outside form, and an [56] References C ted inwardly offset upper rim portion of generally vertical UNITED STATES PATENTS form. The inside surface of the lower riser portion is 3 615 039 10 1971 Ward 220/97 0 0f Pmper dimensions fit the utside Surface the 1:777:388 10/1930 wen/3L upper riser portion of an identical hat. 2,056,276 10/1936 Katz 4 Claims 5 Drawing Figures I 2,214,995 9/1940 Dorsey 2/176 Patented Oct. 16, 1973 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR BERT J. PEHAM BY A F? ATTORNEY [NGEL Patented Oct. 16, 1973 v 3,765.030

, 2 Sheets-Sheet 2' INVENTOR 1f NGELBE'RT J. PEHAM ATTORNEY NESTABLE PLASTIC HAT WITI-I HEAD SIZE ADJUSTMENT This invention relates to an improvement in Plastic Hats, and deals particularly with a type of hat known as a skimmer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION For a great number of years hats have been produced which are generally known as skimmers. These hats have usually been made of straw and have a flat top, a substantially vertical side wall or riser, and a brim. These bats were originally made of straw or a fibrous material. More recently, hats have been produced which simulate the original straw hats, and which are made of foam plastic. These hats have been carefully produced to simulate the original straw hat structure. These hats are usually produced in quantity and sold at sporting events such as world series games, conventions or similar gatherings, and often include a paper hat band which identifies the wearer as belonging to a particular group. t

One of the problems with hats of this type lies in the fact that they are very light in weight, and as a result a package containing a predetermined number of hats is often expensive to ship. While weighing but a few ounces, hats of this type usually must be perhaps 3 to 3 k inches in height in order to be of the proper proportion to fit the head and the brim. At the same time, thediameter of the hats, or the outer periphery thereof must be perhaps more than 11 inches in length and perhaps inches in .width. A package holding many of these hats of this size is unacceptable either for parcel post or for shipment on bus when the hats are compartme'nted in a container. Obviously, the cost of shipping such hats on planes is extremely expensive due to the large volume of space required to ship the relatively low weight objects. I

US. Pat. No. 3,487,472 issued on Jan. 6, 1970 to Lewtan has attempted to overcome one of the previous difficulties by the shipment of two sizes of hats, one hat within another. However, in order to effect a savings,

it is necessary that the'hats which are of smaller diameter equal in number the-hats of larger diameter. This is not usually the case in conventions or similar gatherings. It has been found that a hat of one predetermined size will be capable of fitting most heads if resilient means are provided for compensating for various head girths. The applicant originally made three sizes of hats which were able to telescope. However, by the provision of adjustable bands, the variation in'size'is unnecessary. The present invention deals with a hat which is normally made in one particular size, and still which may be shipped inexpensively.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a hat of the type known as a skimmer in which the upper portion of the riser wall of the hat which is above the hat band is reduced in size, and in which the lower portion of the'wall of each hat is increased in outside dimension so that approximately'one half of the vertical height of one hat can nest into a similar hat of identical size. This results in the compact nesting of hats of identical size which can be sent through the mail or'otherwise shipped at a cost which is very considerably lower than the cost previously experienced. With the present arrangement, hats may be shipped in containers in interstate commerce at a greatly reduced rate. This is of extreme importance when it is understood that the hats are designed as an expendable item which serves its purpose and then is discarded.

An extremely important feature in the present invention lies in the fact that the hats nest together, and can be carried in stacks. In the past, plastic hats of the type in question have been sold at baseball games and other sporting events. In the past, it has been necessary for a person selling the hats to either carry around a container of sufficient size to contain a considerable number of the hats or else to make frequent trips to the source of supply because of the fact that the hats could not nest together. With the present arrangement, the hats nest one into another, and accordingly can be carried about in stacks much higher than the containers previously containing the same number of hats, thereby greatly simplifying the task of conveying the goods to the perspective customer.

The patent to Lewtan, which was previously referred to, shows the general conception of having one hat nested within another. However, in the previous construction, the inner hat is of considerably smaller size than the outer hat, and if two pairs of hats of the type shown in FIG. 3 of the patent were carried, they would still have the same difficulties which have been experienced when attempting to transport individual hats.

A feature of this invention lies in the provision of skimmer type hats in which the walls of the lower portion of the hats are generally vertical throughout the area encircled by the hat band. The outside surface of the walls of the hats above the level of thehat band is of reduced peripheral dimension, so that the hats may nest together approximately one half of the height of the riser. This results in a structurein which a series of identical hats may be stacked in an area which is approximately one half the height of area previously required for identical hats which do not nest in the manner described. In other words, in place-of carrying a container of hats throughout a sales area, the vendor may carry a light weight stack of nested identical hats several feet in height, which may be individually sold.

The advantage of this construction is of utmost importance. The stacked hats of identical outside dimensions may be easily carried with the hatsfrictionally engaged together.-The hats are providedwith meansto compensate for heads of different dimensions. Thus, hats of the same dimensions may be sold to each customer. Not only is this an advantage in the shipment of the hats, but an advantage in matchingthe'sale of one hat of larger diameter to the sale of the next hat to a customer of smaller head size. Each hat is designed to fit virtually any head size. I

Traditionally, skimmer hats have riser portions which are generally vertical from the brim to the crown. By inwardly offsetting the portions of the riser above the hat band, a very similar appearance may be attained. At the same time, the stacked hats may nest together, providing the advantages described without losing the effect of providing the verticalriser. It is recognized that hats of other types having tapering wall portions may readily nest together. In the present construction, both the portions of the hats encircled by the hat band, and the exposed portions of the riser above the hat band may have generally vertical walls, providing a hat which simulates a skimmer type hat.

It is important that the portion of the hat encircled by the hat band have generally vertical walls in order to accommodate a straight encircling band. This is possible with the present construction, and not possible if the riser tapers throughout its height to produce a skimmer type hat which is capable of nesting with an identical hat.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, showing a pair of hats in nested position.

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the hat illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the interior of the hat, showing the manner in which the band is attached thereto.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detail of portions of two similar hats in nested relation.

FIG. 5 is a diagramatic view showing the manner in which the hats may be positioned for shipment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The hats A include a brim portion 10, a riser portion 11, and a crown portion 12. The hats A are of a type designed to simulate straw hats, and are of the type known to the trade as Skimmers.

Straw hats of the type known as skimmers have a substantially vertical riser portion so that hats of the same size do not nest in any manner. As a result, when placed one upon another, the space required for storage or shipment comprises the sum of the height of the individual hats packaged, this height being from the undersurface of the brim to the upper surface of the crown. It is the purpose of the present invention to materially reduce the space required by individual hats, and to thereby materially reduce the cost of storage and shipment.

The brim normally comprises a flat ring of generally oval shape, the exposed surface of which is cast to simulate the straw or similar material originally used in the manufacture of hats of this type. The riser of each hat is separated into a lower portion 14 and an upper portion 15, the two portions being of different outside diameter. Hats of the type in question are normally provided with a band encircling the area on the riser joining the hat brim. Such a band 16 is provided in the present hats, the upper edge 17 of the band extending substantially to the lower end of the upper riser portion 15. The band 16 is designed to conceal the offset 19 between the riser portions of different peripheral dimensions. In actual appearance, the offset 19 is hidden from view and is not at all conspicuous, partially due to the band 16. If the band 16 is omitted, somewhat the same impression could be obtained by coloring the lower portion 14 of the hat brim 11 so as to provide a simulated hat band. The riser wall 11 is of generally similar cross sectional thickness throughout the major portion of its height. The offset 17 may present a tapered shoulder 20 on the outer surface of the riser 11. The outer peripheral surface of the upperportion 15 of the riser is of proper size to snugly fit within the inner surface of the lower portion 14 of the riser 1 1. With this arrangement, the hats may be nested together in such a manner as to greatly reduce the total height of a series of stacked similar hats. In other words, by forming the riser portions of the hat in the manner described, a

stack of nested similar hats will require little more than half the height of a similar series of hats of conventional form.

As is indicated in FIG. 5 of the drawings, the nested stacks of hats can be arranged in a shipping container with diagonally opposite stacks of hats having their crowns directed in one direction, while the remaining two stacks of hats have their crowns directed in the opposite direction. In this way, four stacks of hats may be provided with the riser portion of each hat engaging the periphery of the brim of two adjoining diagonally opposite stacks of hats. The saving in the shipping and storage cost are, in actual practice, tremendous.

In my previous US. Pat. No. 3,305,874 issued in February of I967 to me, I disclosed an elastic band which was embedded in the riser portion of the hat at the front, sides and the back. These anchoring points are illustrated in FIG. 2 of the drawings, the numeral 21 indicating an anchoring point at the back of the hat and the numeral 22 indicating the anchoring point at the front of the hat. The band 23 is anchored to the sides of the hat at the point 24. Intermediate the anchoring points 21, 22 and 24, the elastical resilient member tends to become embedded in the inner surface of the riser and to cling to the inner surface of the riser. Even if released therefrom, the hats of identical size will nest together, the elastic members of one identical hat encircling the riser of another. The resilient band 23 may be manually pulled from the portions of the interior of the riser to bridge the anchoring points when necessary. When this is done, the band 23 extends substantially in straight lines from the points 21 and 22 to the intermediate points 24, permitting the band to stretch to accommodate heads of different sizes.

With this arrangement, the band 23 closely follows the contour of the inner surface of the hat, and accordingly permits the hats to be nested together easily without interference of the elastic band. However, when the bands are free of connection with the risers, the hats still nest together in the manner described.

In accordance with the Patent Office Statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my improvement in plastic hats, and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that changesmay be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim: 7

1. A molded semi-rigid skimmer hat having a body of self-supporting material including:

a flat brim,

a first riser portion extending upwardly from the brim, the inner and outer surfaces of which are parallel and substantially vertical,

a second riser portion generally equal in height to the first riser portion inwardly offset from said first riser portion, said second riser portion having inner and outer surfaces which are generally vertical,

the outer surface of said second riser portion being substantially on the plane of, or outwardly of, the plane of the inner surface of the lower riser portion,

a flat upper surface at the upper end of said second riser portion substantially parallel to the hat brim,

whereby, when two similar hats are nested together the inner surface of the first riser portion of the uppermost hat will fit closely against the outer surface of the second riser portion of the lowermost hat to prevent any substantial misalignment of the nested hats, and the inner surface of the offset of the uppermost hat will rest upon the outer' sruface of the lowermost hat to limit the nesting of the two superimposed hats.

2. The structure of claim 1 and in which the plane of the inner surface of the first riser, when extended, lies between the planes of the inner and outer surfaces of the second riser portion.

3. The structure of claim 1 and including a band encircling the lower riser portion and extending from the brim substantially to the offset, said band acting to minimize the appearance of the offset and to somewhat between said anchored points. 

1. A molded semi-rigid skimmer hat having a body of selfsupporting material including: a flat brim, a first riser portion extending upwardly from the brim, the inner and outer surfaces of which are parallel and substantially vertical, a second riser portion generally equal in height to the first riser portion inwardly offset from said first riser portion, said second riser portion having inner and outer surfaces which are generally vertical, the outer surface of said second riser portion being substantially on the plane of, or outwardly of, the plane of the inner surface of the lower riser portion, a flat upper surface at the upper end of said second riser portion substantially parallel to the hat brim, whereby, when two similar hats are nested together the inner surface of the first riser portion of the uppermost hat will fit closely against the outer surface of the second riser portion of the lowermost hat to prevent any substantial misalignment of the nested hats, and the inner surface of the offset of the uppermost hat will rest upon the outer sruface of the lowermost hat to limit the nesting of the two superimposed hats.
 2. The structure of claim 1 and in which the plane of the inner surface of the first riser, when extended, lies between the planes of the inner and outer surfaces of the second riser portion.
 3. The structure of claim 1 and including a band encircling the lower riser portion and extending from the brim substantially to the offset, said band acting to minimize the appearance of the offset and to somewhat conceal the reduced diameter of the second riser portion from an esthetic point of view.
 4. The structure of claim 1 and including a resilient internal band anchored at spaced points to the first riser portion near the lower end thereof, said band being molded into the inner surface of said first riser between said anchored points and releasable therefrom between said anchored points. 